Meister's OT Goal Helps Falcons Earn 4-3 Win, MAC Tourney Berth

Sunday, October 26

Huntington, W. Va.

12:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

MARSHALL

October 26, 2003 | Women's Soccer

Oct. 26, 2003

Final Stats

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Sophomore Samantha Meister's overtime goal gave the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team a 4-3 win at Marshall University Sunday afternoon (Oct. 26). The win, coupled with a Miami win over Akron, gives the Falcons the eighth and final berth in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

The Falcons will close the regular season, and the home schedule, with a Friday (Oct. 31) non-conference match vs. Ohio State, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Then, BGSU will make the short trip to Ypsilanti, Mich., to face top-seeded Eastern Michigan in a MAC Tournament quarterfinal match the following Tuesday (Nov. 4). EMU tied with Kent State for the regular-season title, but the Eagles win the tiebreaker by virtue of a win over the Golden Flashes in the teams' head-to-head matchup.

With the win at Marshall, the Falcons improve to 7-10-2 overall, and BGSU finishes MAC regular-season play with a 5-5-2 league record. MU is now 2-15-1 and 2-10-0, respectively.

Nothing seems to come easy for the 2003 Falcons. On Marshall's 'Senior Day' at Sam Hood Field, the Thundering Herd took a 2-0 halftime lead on a pair of goals by senior Ellerie Karl. Karl found the back of the net twice in less than three minutes, at 22:57 and 25:31, as the Herd took a two-goal lead for the first time in seven home matches this season.

The Falcons were held scoreless for over 79 minutes of the match, before junior Katie Piening cut the lead in half with a far-post header. Piening headed home a ball from sophomore Ashley Wentzel at the 72:26 mark.

Wentzel set up another goal less than seven minutes later, at 79:06. This time, classmate Julie Trundle got her head on the ball and directed it past MU goalkeeper Ashleigh Woods to knot the score.

Falcon fans were still celebrating the comeback when the home team took the lead once again. Just 20 seconds after Trundle's goal, the Herd's Jen Short gave her team a 3-2 lead off Sarah Gupton's second assist of the day.

But, BG sophomore Megan Rapp picked an opportune time to score her first collegiate goal. With the Brown and Orange needing a win to stave off elimination from the MAC Tournament, Rapp tied the score with just 4:32 remaining in the second half, setting the stage for Meister's winner.

Meister headed home a cross from sophomore Britt Anderson at the 98:45 mark, giving the Falcons the victory. BGSU then had to wait to find out the Miami-Akron outcome before celebrating a MAC Tournament berth.

A win by the Zips would have put UA into the tourney instead of BGSU.

The Falcons held a 15-9 advantage in total shot attempts, and BG doubled up the Herd in the shots-on-goal department, 10-5. Redshirt sophomore Ali Shingler had two saves in the win, while Woods was credited with six saves for the hosts.

BGSU, as mentioned, will host Ohio State in Friday (Oct. 31) action at Cochrane Field. The Falcons' two seniors, co-captains Kasey Freeman and Carrie Richards, will be recognized prior to the 2:30 p.m. contest.

NOTES

The Falcons have qualified for the MAC Tournament for the fourth time in the seven-year history of the program ... for the first time, BG will make back-to-back league tourney appearances ... BGSU's .571 winning percentage (4-3-0 record) is third-highest among MAC schools, and the Falcons are the only team with a winning tourney record to qualify in 2003 ... both Miami (11-0-1; .958 all-time) and Northern Illinois (5-1-0; .833) did not qualify for the '03 event.

The 2003 season marks the first time BGSU has qualified for the MAC Tournament in an odd-numbered year ... the Falcons' other appearances came in 1998, 2000 and 2002 ... in all three previous seasons, BG opened the tourney with a win ... the Falcons advanced to the championship match in 2000, in Andy Richards' first year at BG, and the Brown and Orange advanced to the semifinals in both 1998 and 2002.

A team coming back from two goals down is relatively rare ... unless of course, that team is the 2003 Falcons ... in 138 matches in the history of the BGSU women's soccer program, only seven times has a team gone ahead by two goals and failed to win the match ... it has now happened three times this month, however ... BGSU battled back from 2-0 deficits to win at both Miami (3-2; Oct. 5) and Northern Illinois (4-3 in OT; Oct. 12) ... the Falcons also have come back from two goals down twice at Marshall ... on Oct. 10, 1999, Michelle Lisy scored twice in the final 3:18 of regulation in what would wind up a 3-3, double-OT tie.

Sunday's match marked the Falcons' sixth contest to go to overtime this season, a school record ... BGSU teams had played five OT matches in three previous years (1999, 2000 and 2002) ... the Falcons are now 9-10-11 all-time in overtime, including 2-2-2 this year.

Sophomore Samantha Meister now has two match-winning goals this season and three in her career ... all three have come on the road in overtime ... Meister netted the winning goal at Buffalo last season (Oct. 20, 2002) and at Northern Illinois two weeks ago (Oct. 12).

Meister extended her own school record for overtime goals Sunday ... in fact, Meister is the only Falcon in history to score more than one OT goal in a career ... six other Falcons, including current teammate Julie Trundle, each have scored one extra-session goal.

A few more wacky overtime facts ... the Falcons' first three OT goals all came in the month of August, including what is believed to be the first regular-season "Golden Goal" in NCAA Division-I history, Kerry McKee's marker on Aug. 29, 1997 at Kent ... the school record for OT goals in a season is three, coming in the 2000 campaign ... BGSU has had two OT scores in each of the last two seasons ... six of the Falcons' 10 OT goals have come away from home, including all three of Meister's tallies ... Meister's goal Sunday marked the second time BG has beaten Marshall in OT ... the Falcons also have downed Buffalo in overtime twice, with both matches coming in 2002 ... the entire list of BG's overtime markers...

     BGSU'S OVERTIME GOALS
     Kerry McKee (Aug. 29, 1997 at Kent)
     Michelle Lisy (Aug. 27, 1999 vs. Michigan State)
     Susan Wallace (Aug. 27, 2000 vs. Bucknell [at Kent, Ohio])
     Tracy Gleixner (Sept. 24, 2000 at Eastern Michigan)
     Jill Conover (Oct. 13, 2000 vs. Marshall)
     Samantha Meister (Oct. 20, 2002 at Buffalo)
     Julie Trundle (Nov. 6, 2002 vs. Buffalo)
     Samantha Meister (Oct. 12, 2003 at Northern Illinois)
     Samantha Meister (Oct. 26, 2003 at Marshall)

Sophomore Megan Rapp, as mentioned, scored her first collegiate goal, with less than five minutes left in the second half ... Rapp becomes the eighth different Falcon player to score a goal this year.

Sophomore Ashley Wentzel had the first two-assist match of her Falcon career ... Wentzel now has five assists this fall, tying her with classmate Julie Trundle for the team lead ... sophomores have accounted for 24 of the Falcons' 36 assists in 2003.

the Falcons are 9-2-1 in the last 12 MAC regular-season road contests ... in the history of the Falcon program, BGSU is now 16-16-5 in MAC regular-season road matches ... the Falcons are just 10-24-4 all-time in home MAC regular-season action, however.

Prior to Sunday's three-goal outburst, Marshall had scored only nine goals in 17 matches all season, and the Herd had scored only once in seven previous home contests this year ... that came in an Oct. 3 loss to Buffalo (3-1).

All seven goals in Sunday's match were scored by Ohio natives ... Marshall got two goals from Ellerie Karl, who hails from Oakwood, Ohio, and Mentor native Jen Short scored the Herd's other goal ... Falcon goal-scorers Samantha Meister and Katie Piening each are from Cincinnati, while Megan Rapp is from Dublin and Julie Trundle is a Medina native.

SUNDAY'S MAC RESULTS

Bowling Green 4, at Marshall 3 (OT)
at Miami 4, Akron 1
at Western Michigan 4, Central Michigan 1
Eastern Michigan 2, at Northern Illinois 1
at Ohio 4, Toledo 0
Michigan State 2, at Kent State 0 (non-conf.)

MAC STANDINGS
(through matches of Sun., Oct. 26)

Team (Overall) ................ MAC ..... Pts.
Eastern Michigan (9-7-3) .... 8-2-2 ..... 26
Kent State (11-4-3) ......... 8-2-2 ..... 26
Western Michigan (9-7-1) .... 8-4-0 ..... 24
Ball State (9-6-2) .......... 7-4-1 ..... 22

Central Michigan (8-7-2) .... 6-5-1 ..... 19
Buffalo (10-7-1) ............ 6-5-1 ..... 19
Ohio (8-9-1) ................ 6-5-1 ..... 19
Bowling Green (7-10-2) ...... 5-5-2 ..... 17

Miami (7-8-2) ............... 5-6-1 ..... 16
Toledo (8-10-0) ............. 5-7-0 ..... 15
Akron (6-9-1) ............... 5-7-0 ..... 15
Marshall (2-15-1) .......... 2-15-1 .....  6
Northern Illinois (3-14-1) . 1-10-1 .....  4

QUOTING BGSU COACH ANDY RICHARDS
"Once again, the team produced a spirited comeback. Being down, two-nil at halftime, and then going 3-2 down, we managed to find the passion, the fight and the fire that was needed to get back into the game. We were delighted to get the win."

"The game was bittersweet in some respects. The bitter part was that we put ourselves in a position where we were two goals down, having to find ourselves some energy and intensity to get back into it. But, it was sweet in that we did it, and we did it in overtime, which is always a dramatic way to win a game."

"I believe that, over a season, it takes time for a team to find its identity or personality. I think, with this 2003 team, the personality is such that we have great character, are good at coming back and enjoys the comeback victory."

"We're overjoyed to be going to the postseason, after (other Sunday) results went our way, and we get to go to Eastern Michigan. We know in our hearts that there is a world of difference between the team that wins the MAC and the team that finishes eighth -- we are under no illusions. Eastern Michigan has a very strong program, and they deserve to be MAC champions." [Note: EMU tied for the regular-season title with Kent State, but EMU is the #1 seed for the league tournament.]

"We also understand that the nature of the Bowling Green team is that they will give everything they possibly can in a must-win situation, which the MAC Tournament quarterfinal match will be. We know EMU is the clear favorite, and I'm sure they're relishing the opportunity to play the number-eight seed on their home field. But, we are very excited to be in the postseason, and we hope to get lucky from here."

"It was excellent to see Katie Piening find the scoresheet, and Julie Trundle also had a header. Ashley Wentzel, who assisted on both of those goals, has had a fantastic season. She has truly deserved every minute that she has played this year, and I am delighted that she has made such progress."

"Likewise, I am ecstatic that Megan Rapp got her first collegiate goal. She is a kid that has worked very hard this year, and hasn't always had things go her way. She has had to watch the game from the bench on a number of occasions, but has gotten in in recent times, and has really shown that her heart is with the team. She has played well, and I am delighted that she could have such a public success as scoring the game-tying goal."

"Credit also goes to Leah (Eggleton) and Britt (Anderson) for putting on a good offensive display for the final goal. Leah found Britt, Britt served the ball (to the) back post, and there was Sam (Meister) for a header."

"It was a full team performance. I've mentioned a few individuals, but a lot of people played well today. KP (Katie Piening) came on and did a nice job today. Jenny Berlovan came on, played out of position, and did a fantastic job. And, there were other fine performances. I was very happy with this outcome. We look forward to going on to the postseason, and we hope to get an upset at Eastern."